Dropbox (free online backup, file sync, & file sharing)

[Daniel E.]

YouTube - What is Dropbox?
My whole family uses Dropbox now, except my grandfather and that is probably just a matter of time.

Like many people, I use Dropbox to sync my documents folder between my computers, such as my laptop and my desktop.

It works well in all major operating systems -- Windows, Mac, and Linux -- and mobile devices like the iPhone, Android, and soon BlackBerry.

Each account comes with 2 GB of free storage, which is all I plan to need.

One of the newest features:
Dropbox Adds Ability to Create a Shareable Link to Any File in Your Account

 

[Daniel E.]

Another good, free feature of DropBox is that it keeps all previous versions of a file for 30 days.

I just had to upgrade to the paid version because I ran out of space, but it is worth it:

 

[Daniel E.]

A DropBox alternative, SugarSync, offers 5 GB of free space (rather than just 2 GB) as well as additional features.

But I still prefer Dropbox for the way it provides file versioning:

SugarSync retains the last five versions of all your files, meaning the last 4 changed versions of that file are kept on SugarSync’s website. So if you deleted all that backstory in a drunken rage and saved the changes… guess what? You can still get your old file back!

Dropbox stores versions differently. They save unlimited versions of your file, no matter how many changes you make, but versions are deleted after they become thirty days old. So if you don’t change your file for thirty days, all the revisions are gone. Dropbox offers a “Pack Rat” service which keeps ALL revisions of your files [for an extra fee for paid accounts].

Depending on what kind of work you do, you might prefer Dropbox’s versioning system over SugarSync. As a writer, I think SugarSync uses a better method of storing versions. If a file got wrecked last time you saved it, you won’t find out until the next time you open it. But that could be months later. In that case, SugarSync would save your ***, but Dropbox would not, unless you added their optional “pack rat” service.

http://www.conradzero.com/great-software-for-great-authors-sugarsync-vs-dropbox/

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Do a Security Audit of your Dropbox Account
Digital Inspiration Technology Blog

Something really scary happened at Dropbox yesterday that should worry anyone who have trusted their important files with the service.

The Dropbox system was left wide open for about 5-6 hours yesterday and anyone could sign-in to your Dropbox account if all they knew were your email address. They could just type any random characters in the password box and the system would let them in. Scary!

Dropbox has since then fixed the bug but what concerns me is this casual statement that they posted in response to such a serious security breach:

A very small number of users (much less than 1 percent) logged in during that period, some of whom could have logged into an account without the correct password.
​

At an event the previous month, founder Drew Houston was quoted as saying that the Dropbox service has 25 million users. That means about 250,000 users logged into Dropbox during that window and it?s definitely not a small number.

Is Your Dropbox Account Affected?
Unlike Gmail, Dropbox doesn?t offer you a list of IP address that have recently accessed your account else that would have really helped understand if anyone else got into your account during that period.

There are however a few things that you may do at your end.

#1. The Dropbox website has a page - dropbox.com/events ? that details all the recent activity around your Dropbox account. It won?t show details for sign-ins or which of your files were downloaded but you'll at least get know if someone has removed or added any files to your Dropbox storage without your knowledge.

#2. Another page - dropbox.com/account ? maintains a list all computers and mobile devices that are currently linked to your Dropbox account. If you see an unknown computer or mobile phone listed on this page, or if a device you own is missing, it is something to worry about.

#3. Also take a look at your My Apps pages to confirm that only known apps have access to your Dropbox account.

A recent update from Dropbox says that they are contacting all accounts that reported log-in activity during the "unlocked" period - just hope that no such email lands in your Inbox because if someone else has read or downloaded your documents stored on Dropbox, you can't really do anything about it now.

 

[Always Changing]

A 2, 10, or 100gig external drive sounds so much safer now.

 

[Daniel E.]

Yeah. Though encrypted files would still be safe, I don't encrypt since nothing in my Dropbox folder is a big secret.

But there was a time when my mom would keep a file of all of her passwords mg: on Dropbox -- unencrypted.